Who to trust? Nobody! Just follow the rules for buying watches in order to stay safe.
“Over the last 20 or 30 years, information has been controlled by a small amount of people and that’s changing now…More people are sharing, but they’re also sharing inaccurate information. That’s where it’s still “Let the buyer beware” more than ever before…” – John Reardon, Christie’s.
Many say “buy the seller,” believing that if an auction house, dealer, or fellow collector is well-known enough that they can be trusted unconditionally. Unfortunately, many collectors (and even dealers) have found out the hard way that this mantra can’t blindly be followed.
The best all-encompassing read is the story of the franken “Unicorn”, in which Perezcope breaks down the sale of the unique white gold Rolex Daytona 6265. Call it what you want, but lets leave it as a lack of transparency by all parties. This story includes a collector, dealer, auction house, and the watch media. It highlights that you…well…can’t trust anyone in this business. Not well-known dealers, not the most respected collectors, not the largest and most prestigious auction houses, and not the watch media.
The only reason this all came to light was due to a post on instagram, where photos showed that the watch didn’t begin as was presented for auction. After this, the collector/seller and auction house provided their side of the story, and the watch media remained quiet, lest they rock the boat. Incredibly disappointing to say the least.
So what to do when buying? Tops on anyone’s list of considerations is provenance of the watch. Do you know whether it has been traded among dealers or sold multiple times at auction houses, passed around like a hot potato? Or is it new to the market, coming from the original owner (or family of the original owner)? Even if it does come from the original owner/family, it doesn’t mean that you should blindly take their word as to the history of the watch – whether it has been serviced, if parts have been swapped, etc. – often the owner or family member simply won’t have knowledge of details (we don’t expect that the current owner of a watch handed down between generations would know if their great-grandfather brought the watch in for service and had it polished 60 years ago).
Dealers
Depending on what you are purchasing, eventually it likely makes sense to start establishing relationships with one or two dealers with whom you are comfortable and trust. While that sounds straightforward, even well-known dealers are involved in lawsuits around bad watches, and sadly it isn’t uncommon that dealers intentionally do not share information with prospective buyers. And for all those that have been sued, many more should be: there are dealers that scrap old cases and reuse serial numbers for new cases, swap parts, relume and repaint dials…and either not disclose what has happened to the watch, or simply lie about its background. If you want to modify watches it’s your prerogative, but if you do make a change and don’t disclose it = not OK! And depending on the dealer, some will stand by their watches and some don’t, which tells you what they think of the pieces they are selling. To make a point, consider inquiring as to whether the dealer will help in selling the watch later if you decide to move on (or ask other collectors that have a relationship with the dealer).
If you want some additional transaction protection, you may wish to purchase through an online platform such as Chrono24, assuming the watch is available there in addition to the dealer site/instagram. You may see prices differ based upon the channel, but don’t hesitate to negotiate on either (note that Chrono24 will charge a dealer 6.5% on the sale, and anecdotally it appears that prices on Chrono24 are about ~20% above where watches are trading). Some watches will be posted at the same price on Chrono24 and the dealer website, and if the dealer is well-known, you may still see a benefit by purchasing through Chrono24 due to the ability to use a credit card for travel points (and if looking for a card, I recommend the American Express Platinum, albeit a high annual fee, you can get those dollars back due to all the benefits – full disclosure: that link goes to a referrer page where I would get some points if anyone signs up).
Read examples of lawsuits between collectors and dealers.
Auction houses
While you might expect that all information is disclosed to buyers, think again. Even with all the pictures in hand, if can take a practiced eye to spot issues with watches that are described as “incredibly well-preserved”. ALWAYS get a condition report, but even then know it may not include all details. Check out a list of frankens at auction.
While auction houses do provide a great opportunity to look at a large number of pieces before bidding, this also presents a downside as well. As watches travel during previews between locations, and are handled again, and again, and again, invariably there are pieces that were damaged prior to the auction. So while the catalog picture provides a starting point, there is always the change that by the time the auction starts that a dial has cracked, a lume plot has exploded or fallen off, or functions no longer are working as noted. The auction house should provide an update or call issues out to prospective bidders, but won’t always.
Lastly, one point to consider at the different auction houses is the number of pieces that are coming from original owners. As dealer pieces start to dominate auction sales, we need to think about why the dealer watch is at auction at all. The correct answer: they weren’t able to sell the watch on their own (if they could, they wouldn’t have to pay the seller’s premium to the auction house), so off it goes. One common reason for an inability to sell is due to issues with the watch.
And speaking of where the watch comes from…the auction houses may not even do the research to know if the watch has been stolen (such as in this example of Antiquorum selling a stolen watch), so always do a search of serial numbers online and in stolen watch registries before purchasing.
There are interesting relationships between auction houses and manufacturers, as we have seen most clearly with Antiquorum and Omega in 2007. As a collector would you want to know that Omega was bidding against you on one of the estimated 80 lots on which they bid (of 300 in the auction, including those that Omega provided specifically for the sale)? You would, but I would never expect to know that I am bidding against a manufacture on a piece, as they would not want it known that they are a bidder, which would likely drive up the bidding. However, in a case where the manufacture has either provided the pieces for the auction, or has no intention of buying pieces, is it ethically acceptable for them to bid? I leave that for others… Undoubtedly it is good press for Omega when you hear one of their vintage pieces sold for $351,000…or $3.1m CHF – just keep in mind they may be conveniently excluding the fact that they were the buyer.
Read on for examples of lawsuits between collectors and auction houses.
Private sellers and lesser-known dealers
If you don’t know the seller personally (dealer or individual), search forums for reputation feedback. This holds whether the seller is on a forum, eBay, or a dealer site (and sometimes you can even read dealer feedback of another, such as Menta Watches’ review of his experience with Rare Vintage Watch).
If you can’t find any feedback on the seller, ask on forums if anyone has dealt with them before. And even if the seller isn’t advertising on a particular forum, that community can often still help. Some forums have a section dedicated to reputation, such as watchuseek’s ‘Feedback & Reputation’ sticky And take note, even a perfect eBay feedback score, great reputation, references, or the fact the seller is a large auction house doesn’t guarantee anything. Sadly, fakes are getting better and better all the time. The last thing you want to do is drop $52k on a franken Omega 2998-2 on eBay, right?
Unfortunately, on instagram, where we see an increasing number of these reviews of sellers, it is difficult to search for comments in a systematic way.
It’s useful to remember that there is a reason the collector is selling, and whether you’ll get an honest answer isn’t really known. They may likely have information about the watch that you don’t, and, if you do sell one day, aren’t going to be one to help you as a dealer would/might.
Read on for examples of squabbles between collectors and with lesser-known dealers.
Manufactures
And if you think you can blindly trust the manufacture, sadly you’ll find that isn’t the case either, as we can see most blatantly in the case of the Omega Speedmaster sold for 3.1m CHF at Phillips in November 2021. It’s disappointing, but as mentioned in the Alpha Hands Extracts and Certificates section, insiders such as Ben Clymer, founder of Hodinkee, recognize that you need to treat information from the manufacture with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Third parties
Lastly, you might turn to a third party to be your resource of choice, believing them to be unbiased and without fault in their work. If so, you are going to be disappointed when you find that even the largest watch publications highlight their favorite auction houses and timepieces they sell. Hodinkee’s Bring a Loupe (BAL) may be a place to start a search, but always take a closer look.
So never purchase based upon one recommendation, but dig in more – reach out to the community and read comments, research in books and online, and do everything you can to see the piece in person. Forums are a great place to start to tap into the knowledge of other collectors, and the collective wisdom of the group, but this is no guarantee either. There are many individuals with great knowledge who are willing to share information (don’t be scared off if you are new – many people are more than willing to help), but many more that don’t have a clue of what they are talking about (while professing themselves as experts).
Once you have a network of “trusted” collectors and dealers, you may want to ask them their opinions (just don’t bug them too much if they are a dealer, they do have to spend their time focused on selling) of a piece. One word of caution – if you do find a watch in some far-off auction or buried on a forum and ask for someone else’s opinion, you are opening up the possibility that they will see the watch for the first time as a result of your request for an opinion, and then buy it for themself. Bummer yes, but unfortunately such is the way of the world for those that only think of themselves. Once you build relationships, you may find those (rare) dealers that will have an honest talk and let you know if they were already planning to build on the piece you are interested in, and some will even actively *not* bid on a piece you are interested in if you let them know (and if you are at that level, you could tell them you are going to bid up to $X, and then they will know they can step in on the bidding if it gets above that level as you will be out). Of course, this is far down the road when you have established a solid relationship.